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LowCards.com does not include all credit card companies or every available credit card offer. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. Every reasonable effort has been made to maintain accurate information, however credit card offers change frequently. After you click on an offer you will be directed to the credit card issuer’s secure web site where you can review the terms and conditions for your offer.

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The Importance of Credit Card Receipts

October 10, 2012, Written By John H. Oldshue

Credit card receipts are printed with every swipe of a credit card. They fill up wallets, purses and car consoles, and are used as scratch paper and bookmarks. It is easy to become careless with these small, but important, strips of white paper.

The Numbers and Signature on Credit Card Receipts

Through the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, Congress mandated that only the last four or five digits of your card number, not your whole number, can appear on your receipt. Your receipt cannot include your expiration date. This shortened or truncated number provides greater financial security, but it doesn’t offer complete protection.

Pretending to be your bank or utility company, thieves can use the few published digits of your credit card number and ask an unsuspecting consumer to fill in the rest of the numbers. Never give your credit card number if someone calls you, no matter who they say they may be. If you think the call may be legitimate, look up the number of the business and call them back.

The rest of the numbers on your receipt are codes for the processor. These numbers identify the store and sometimes give a terminal number that tells which cash register took the payment.

There will be two copies of the receipt, one for the customer and one for the merchant. The receipts are the same and it usually does not matter which one you sign. Restaurants put the tip and signature line on both copies of the receipt. Your signature is also important, no matter how illegible the scrawl. The receipt is a contract that you will pay. The signed receipt may also be important if you need to dispute a fraudulent charge.

Keep or Toss Receipts

Keep these receipts in order to compare the charges with your credit card statements, especially those that include a tip. It is possible that the cashier could make a mistake or fraudulently add a little more to your bill, a practice called tip-padding. If a credit card charge is incorrect, the receipt is your proof to help you dispute the charge. Keeping your receipt is also important when you need to make an exchange, get a refund or use a warranty. It is a good idea to keep receipts for a year or two until the credit card warranty expires, especially on major purchases.

If you don’t want to keep up with your receipts, services such as Shoeboxed.com digitizes receipts and stores them in cloud-based archives. Retailers are also moving to electronic payments and can e-mail your receipt to you.

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*Editorial Note: This content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer. Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This site may be compensated through the credit card issuer affiliate program. See the online application for details about terms and conditions for these offers. Every reasonable effort has been made to maintain accurate information, however all credit card information is presented without warranty. After you click on an offer you will be directed to the credit card issuer's web site where you can review the terms and conditions for your offer.

Advertiser Disclosure: LowCards.com is an independent, for-profit website. LowCards.com participates in a paid affiliate network and receives compensation from most of the credit card issuers whose offers appear on the site. This compensation helps support our website and enables us to write insightful articles to help you manage your credit card accounts. This compensation, as well as the likelihood of applicants’ credit approval and our own proprietary website guidelines, may impact how and where the cards appear on our site.

LowCards.com does not include all credit card companies or every available credit card offer. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. Every reasonable effort has been made to maintain accurate information, however credit card offers change frequently. After you click on an offer you will be directed to the credit card issuer’s secure web site where you can review the terms and conditions for your offer.